EMR Benefits and Return on Investment Categories
The sections below detail the benefits, costs, and barriers in evaluating EMR implementations. Selecting, financing, and launching an EHR system is difficult.
Contents
- 1 Informational
- 2 Security
- 3 Environmental
- 4 Medical Education
- 5 Financial
- 6 Improving patient care
- 7 Research
- 8 Health Information Exchange (HIE)
- 9 Personal Health Records
- 10 Electronic Dental Records
- 11 Telehealth
- 12 E-Prescribing
- 13 Mobile EMRs
- 14 Physicians
- 15 Nurses
- 16 Costs
- 17 Benefits Database
- 18 References
Informational
Security
EMR Benefits: Security is an advantageous attribute which comes with EMR systems. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a privacy, security & meaningful use guidelines which computer systems that store patient information need to conform to imply to HIPAA privacy guidelines. [1]
Environmental
EMR Benefits: Environmental positive impact through Electronic Health Records has the potential to improve the environmental footprint left by the health care industry. [2]
Medical Education
EMR Benefits: Medical education
Financial
"Implementing an EMR system could cost a single physician approximately $163,765. As of May 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had paid more than $30 billion in financial incentives to more than 468,000 Medicare and Medicaid providers for implementing EMR systems. With a majority of Americans now having at least one if not multiple EMRs generated on their behalf, data breaches and security threats are becoming more common and are estimated by the American Action Forum (AAF) to have cost the health care industry as much as $50.6 billion since 2009." [3]
Some of the ways that EMR systems can cut healthcare costs are due to savings based on "time-consuming paper-driven and labor-intensive tasks":[4]
- Reduced transcription costs[4]
- Reduced chart pull, storage, and re-filing costs [4]
- Improved and more accurate reimbursement coding with improved documentation for highly compensated codes [4]
- Reduced medical errors through better access to patient data and error prevention alerts [4]
- Improved patient health/quality of care through better disease management and patient education [4]
Improving patient care
EMR Benefits: Healthcare quality
Improved Care Coordination
- Electronic health record (EHR) systems can decrease the fragmentation of care by improving care coordination. EHRs can integrate and organize patient health information and facilitate the immediate dissemination of information to authorized providers involved in a patient's care.[5]
Research
Health Information Exchange (HIE)
Personal Health Records
Patient Participation
Patients can use personal health record (PHR) to keep track of information from doctor visits, record health-related information, and link to health-related resources. PHR, is an electronic application used by patients to maintain and manage their own health information. Connected PHRs are linked to a specific health care organization's EHR system that can increase patient and family participation in their own care. [6]
Electronic Dental Records
Telehealth
E-Prescribing
Mobile EMRs
Physicians
Nurses
Costs
Benefits Database
EMR Benefits: Benefits Database
References
- ↑ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Privacy and Security Standards. http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/HIPAA-Administrative-Simplification/HIPAAGenInfo/PrivacyandSecurityStandards.html
- ↑ Turley, M., Porter, C., Garrido, T., Gerwig, K., Young, S., Radler, L., & Shaber, R. (2011). Use of electronic health records can improve the health care industry’s environmental footprint. Health affairs, 30(5), 938-946.
- ↑ O'Neill, T. (2015, August). Are Electronic Medical Records Worth the Cost of Implementation.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Kumar, S., & Bauer, K. (2011). Medical Practice Efficiencies & Cost Savings.http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/medical-practice-efficiencies-cost-savings
- ↑ http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/improved-care-coordination
- ↑ http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/patient-participation
